Troy's bid for state title cut short

Published 12:00 am, Monday, November 29, 2010

High school football -- Troy coach Jack Burger reacts on the sidelines with his team behind late in the fourth quarter against Rush-Henrietta. (Luanne M. Ferris / Times Union)

High school football -- Troy coach Jack Burger reacts on the sidelines with his team behind late in the fourth quarter against Rush-Henrietta. (Luanne M. Ferris / Times Union)

Photo: Luanne M. Ferris

Image 2 of 3

High school football -- The Troy High School Flying Horse mascot comforts Troy's Shatiek Lewis. (Luanne M. Ferris / Times Union)

High school football -- The Troy High School Flying Horse mascot comforts Troy's Shatiek Lewis. (Luanne M. Ferris / Times Union)

Photo: Luanne M. Ferris

Image 3 of 3

The Troy High School football team gets a police escort from school as their bus heads off to Syracuse to play for the Class AA state football title on Sunday. This is Troy?s fifth time playing for the state title. Troy won the state Class AA title in 1996 and 1998. Troy will play Rush-Henrietta. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less

The Troy High School football team gets a police escort from school as their bus heads off to Syracuse to play for the Class AA state football title on Sunday. This is Troy?s fifth time playing for the state ... more

Raise two kids and coach high school football for more than a decade, and you learn a thing or two about teenagers' emotions.

When Burger gathered his Troy High football team after its 40-28 loss to Rush-Henrietta in the state championship game, he knew his players didn't want to see their coach struggling with the same feelings they were.

"They're looking at me to make it all better," Burger said.

He couldn't, of course, but he'd do his best.

Burger laced his fingers behind his head, exhaled and stepped among his 40 Flying Horses, all of whom had gathered in front of the Troy sideline while Rush-Henrietta celebrated across the field.

Burger told them they should be proud, that there was no reason to hang their heads.

Nobody likes losing, he said, but sometimes -- this time -- there's no shame in it.

"Look at all those people up there," he said, pointing to the few thousand Troy fans standing and applauding.

More Information

"They're all cheering for you. They're all proud of you."

There are many lessons to be learned from high school sports -- hard work, teamwork and sportsmanship, to name a few.

But the most poignant tend to be the hardest. This is tough one: Sometimes, life deals you a loss.

"They're going to lose jobs, they're going to lose relationships, they're going to lose family members," Burger said when he had finished talking to his team.

"You want them to take football and let them learn from it as young men. If they can do that, I've done my job."

Follow the team off the field and into the locker room, and you see just how painful this lesson can be.

Nobody gets dressed right away, not when some of the players realize they're taking off their uniforms for the last time.

For a while, nobody even moves.

"Guys, you ain't got nothing to be ashamed of," defensive coordinator Bobby Burns said, breaking the silence. "Nothing at all. This was a helluva season."

Burger reached the locker room last. He didn't say anything to the team as he pulled his briefcase from his locker and collected his things.

"They don't want me to say anything right now," he said.

The only sound was the click-clack of cleats on the bathroom's tile floor.

Puffy-eyed, players started to shuffle out the door.

"Underneath," Burger said, "I feel like them."

He paused and looked around the room.

"Some of these kids, these friendships that they've made are unbelievable," he said. "We have kids that live in group homes, kids that come from affluent backgrounds, kids who are great students, kids who are trying like heck to finish up school and graduate.

"There are a lot of life lessons in here. Sometimes, unfortunately, we do get wrapped up in winning and losing, because we're competitive. But the No. 1 thing is to prepare these guys to be great people."

Behind Burger, someone cracked a joke and someone else laughed.

Then someone passed around a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

Slowly, as the raw emotion faded, the most important lesson was being learned, and life was moving on.

Pete Iorizzo can be reached at 454-5425 or by e-mail at piorizzo@timesunion.com.